


all that was lost, is revealed

by Ford_Ye_Fiji



Series: Whumptober 2020 [11]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt Number Five | The Boy, Mentions of The Handler, Number Five | The Boy Gets A Hug, Number Five | The Boy Has Issues, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Stressed Number Five | The Boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:40:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27070615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ford_Ye_Fiji/pseuds/Ford_Ye_Fiji
Summary: Day 17: blackmail/dirty secretFive is... not having the best day- and worst of all, Diego and Klaus aren't letting the... incident go.
Series: Whumptober 2020 [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947877
Comments: 14
Kudos: 289
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	all that was lost, is revealed

Five slumped, holding an ice pack to his bruised cheek, lip still bloodied from his beating. His mutilated arm was now firmly in a cast and the gash on his leg was stitched up. All that remained was Diego and Klaus sitting before him, arms crossed. Diego lifted an eyebrow, Klaus eyeing him with clear concern. 

Five wanted to run away. 

But he knew that he wasn’t going anywhere. 

Diego spoke up, finally, breaking the oppressive silence, "Alright Five. Here it is. You can tell us now, why you were with that bitch, or you can wait till Allison and Luther get back from rumoring the hospital for supplies and for Vanya to get home from practice." 

Klaus nodded, adding cheerily, "Your choice!" 

Five glared, managing to spit, "It _wasn’t_ by choice." 

Diego laughed, "Oh really? That was the fucking _Handler_ , Five! Alive! Again! And you were, what, working with her? For fun times? Letting yourself get beat to shit because you _like_ it?"

Five's glare deepened, "Yeah, she does that. This is the second or third she's died." He huffed, sulking in his chair, "At least this time we burnt the body." 

Klaus shook his head, "Five, buddy, we're just... we're just _worried_ about you-“ 

Five leaned back, something heavy in the slump of his shoulders as he looked away, refusing to meet Klaus’s eyes, "You shouldn’t be."

Diego leaned forward, "Five, what does that mean?" 

His eyes remained stubbornly fixed on the floor. 

Klaus sighed, "Five, c'mon, talk to us. You can’t get out of this one." 

Five sighed, wilting, as if his strings had been cut, as if the fight had left him, "I know. I _thought_ I could put it off. But I can’t stop the inevitable and it was extremely foolish to think that I could." 

Diego blinked, almost surprised at how uncharacteristic defeat was on Five. Five didn’t give up, ever, not even in the face of certain death. Hell, that was why they were all here, alive and well, in the first place. 

He could see Klaus was as concerned as he was, trying to read Five's broken expression, "I... I didn’t. The Handler, she told me something. I thought... I didn’t _know-_ " he sighed, letting the ice pack fall from the swelling, the whole left side of his face purpling, from cheekbone to chin, "I wanted to wait to tell you. She said she would- she would let me tell you in my own time if I did some stuff for her. I didn’t want to, but- but I couldn’t let you find out from her-“ 

Klaus asked quietly, "Find out what, little Number Five?" 

Five sighed, glaring at the floor, as if it had personally harmed him, "I killed people to keep order in the timeline. If someone was causing the timeline to deviate from normal I was sent out to correct it. I killed a lot of people. Indiscriminately." 

Diego frowned, "Yeah, we know that Five- I don’t see why that’s such a big deal-“ 

Five glowered at him, "You know it but you don’t _see_ . You don’t _understand_. You're not thinking about it." He slumped, "Klaus... I... I don’t know." 

Klaus blinked, "Um..."

He shook his head, "But that’s no excuse." Another impossibly heavy sigh, "Klaus. There was a valley in Vietnam..." 

Klaus froze as Five continued, staring resolutely at the ground, "I didn’t..." another breath, harsh and stuttering, “I didn’t know you were there. I didn’t know what... what he meant to you. If I had- I never would’ve obeyed them- I would’ve- I would’ve _found_ a way-“ 

Klaus sucked in a breath, "Five-“ 

Five finished before his brother could stop him, finally, meeting his gaze, lips thin and eyes flinty, "I killed David Joseph Katz. I’m sorry, Klaus." 

Klaus whined, choking on air. 

Diego gaped, "Wait- holy _shit_ Five-“ 

Five swallowed, straightening, back stiff as steel, "The Handler knew it. She told me. She knew how you would... react. So I did what I could to make sure she wouldn’t just drop it on everyone." 

Diego ran a hand through his hair and then reached over carefully, "Klaus-“ 

Klaus slapped his hand away. 

Five swallowed as his brother looked up, eyes filled with unshed tears, "You _killed_ him. _You_ killed him." 

Five nodded, ignoring the itching of his cast and the aches in his side that protested at his stiff posture, "I did." 

Klaus ran a hand down his face, "Oh, god." 

Five didn’t reach for him, letting Diego rub Klaus's back comfortingly. He’d done enough damage for today. He sighed, standing and hissing at the movement, "I understand if you don’t want to talk to me, so I’ll go-“ 

Klaus glanced up, "Five-“ 

Five froze, hating the fear that welled up inside of him, "Yes?" 

Klaus's throat bobbed as he studied him carefully before something in his face crumpled and he finally managed a watery laugh, "Oh, little Number Five.” He reached out and pulled him close, Five stumbling into his embrace, "What family doesn't have it's ups and downs?” 

Five blinked, confused and baffled. The best case scenario, by his reasoning, had been Klaus refusing to talk to him, he didn’t even want to think about the many other terrible reactions he’d conjured up during late nights, "Klaus...?"

Klaus ran a hand through his hair and Five was so _confused_ , so utterly perplexed that Klaus had somehow seen the monster that he was, had understood the depths of pain and suffering that he had caused and still, somehow, held tight despite everything, "I loved him so much, Five. So damn much. But I know what you were doing. I get it. And I’m sorry too." 

Klaus spoke into his shoulder, "And I don’t know if I can forgive you right now- but I know you won’t even ask. I can tell you right now that I will be able too, someday, okay? You’re still my brother. And I won’t lose you too." 

Five buried his head in the crook of Klaus's neck, feeling something hard and painful twist and crack and break in his chest, release making him feel lighter than air. 

Diego's arms wrapped around them, and even as sad as that moment was, hope glowed golden on the horizon.

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is here: https://ford-ye-fiji.tumblr.com/


End file.
